Crunchyroll Expands with New Anime-Focused Subsidiary

 Sony is taking a bet on Japanese Anime as a growth vector with the launch of Crunchyroll Storyworks, its new division. Brandon Blake, entertainment attorney at Blake & Wang P.A., shares the news. 

                                                                Brandon Blake 


New Unit


The new unit will be headed by Tohru Iokibe, a veteran at Sony Corp., and hopes to extend the platform’s influence among the Japanese anime community as well as boost its global profile. They will report to Crunchyroll’s Chief Content Officer, Asa Suehira. The new division was announced last week at Crunchyroll’s own Anime Future Forum and ahead of the New York Comic Con. 


Storyworks will primarily focus on adapting global stories into anime, and, conversely, bringing Japanese anime titles into the live-action arena. They will also deliver “greenlight-ready” projects for HAYATE, their joint venture with Aniplex. 

                                                              Blake & Wang Lawyers  


Extending Anime (and Crunchyroll’s) Influence


Sony acquired Crunchyroll back in 2021 for $1.2B, merging it with their in-house Funimation label to become an anime powerhouse. Despite rather unfortunate timing for a significant deal like this, they have managed to grow quite significantly, now holding at least 21M subscribers. 

This move can also be seen as part of something that is becoming a “theme” at Crunchyroll. Namely, promoting and developing originality in the anime space, without losing sight of its Japanese roots. 


Crunchyroll has also recently acquired Witch on the Holy Night, set for a January release in North America. Based on the 2021 visual novel of the same name, it will be available in both Japanese with English subtitles as well as an English dub, and comes from the same production house that brought Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle to life to conquer the box office last year. 


With considerable momentum in the anime space at present, it will be interesting to see how Storyworks extends the Crunchyroll stable, and how Sony handles the new division going forward. 


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